The drilling zones for oil and natural gas exploration are
widening across Texas, forcing Johnnie L. Rosenauer farther
away from home to sell property. Companies involved with
fracking, the extraction of petroleum resources from shale, have
brought oil rigs, industrial drills, trucks, and constant disruption in recent years to the quiet San Antonio suburb of Spring
Branch, where Rosenauer has based his eponymous real estate
firm since 2006. It’s become di;cult to make a sale there as
buyers seek more peaceful terrain. Thousands more oil and gas
wells are tapped for development and drilling throughout the
state, and Rosenauer has driven as far as five hours away from
Spring Branch to find ranches and farms outside their path for
his clients. But options are disappearing fast.

“I don’t know a single practitioner who doesn’t have the samestory,” says Rosenauer, who is also a real estate professor atSan Antonio College. “Our market area is larger than the state ofGeorgia. We have to resign ourselves to driving farther or sellingless in parts of Texas these days. There certainly are areas notimpacted by fracking at all, but none of them is close enough tobe a viable option for me.”Fracking has gotten a bad rap not only for the disturbancesit causes—including clusters of small earthquakes reportedin active drilling areas such as Dallas-Fort Worth—but also forpossible health hazards. Environmentalists have linked methanereleases at drill sites to poor air quality, and many fear that toxicchemicals used during fracking could cause widespread watercontamination.

To alleviate his clients’ worries, Rosenauer searches for land
where the mineral rights—the right to extract and profit from
whatever is below the surface—belong to the property owner.

That way, his clients control whether fracking companies canaccess their properties. But the reality is most of the mineralrights in Texas are already owned by oil and gas companies,making it nearly impossible for many property owners to turncompanies away, Rosenauer says. Further complicating thesituation, Texas inventory hit an all-time low in May, so availableland is at a premium.“Some people think, ‘Well, I’ll just go find another property,’”he adds. “In my world, those folks don’t have a lot of choices.There are too many buyers chasing too few acres, and prettysoon, someone is going to have to buy [without mineral rights].”What Rosenauer views as an obstacle for buyers, somefellow practitioners look at as a boon for property owners. OneTexas city where emotions are fierce on both sides of the issueis Denton. “A lot of people have made a lot of money,” says ChrisRosprim, president of the Greater Denton/ Wise County Asso-DrillingDownFor BetterOptions

“Our market area islarger than the stateof Georgia. We haveto resign ourselvesto driving farther orselling less in parts ofTexas these days.”Johnnie L. Rosenauer ventures as far asfive hours from his o;ce in Spring Branch,Texas, to find properties for clients worriedabout fracking.